Andrea and Pablo are completing their year of recognition in municipal childcare centres. That's nothing special in itself, but in this case, they are recruiting from Spain. This is not the first time that Rodgau has put out feelers for childcare workers from Spain. There has been a shortage of skilled labour in the education sector in particular for several years. The consequences of the shortage of educational specialists can include reduced childcare times, group and even centre closures. In addition, the shortage of skilled labour leads to additional workloads for existing educational staff, for example due to overtime. Rodgau currently operates 17 of its own daycare centres and is also feeling the effects of the shortage of skilled staff. Here, too, it is important to reconcile child-appropriate staffing levels, a sufficient number of childcare places and ultimately having the better cards in the competition for qualified staff. One way to counteract the current shortage of skilled labour is to make use of personnel service providers such as Helmeca. The German-Spanish recruitment agency specialises in the placement of Spanish nursery staff for daycare centres in Hesse and Bavaria. Helmeca offers a kind of "full service" for applicants and potential employers: search for the most suitable staff in Spain, selection according to criteria such as qualifications, experience abroad, foreign language skills and professional experience. This is followed by a recruitment test and interview. Once the selection process has been successfully completed, graduates begin a 6-month intensive language course in Spain with a total of 720 teaching units. The aim is to achieve language level B2, independent use of the language. Once the skilled workers have been placed in Germany, Helmeca also supports them here and assists them in dealing with the authorities, registering with the residents' registration office, health insurance company, bank and tax office. How does the skilled worker get to the municipal daycare centre? Andrea and Pablo and the daycare centres introduced themselves to each other with self-made videos. They will now work in the centres for 12 months, receive accompanying coaching measures and are supported throughout the entire integration process. This includes recognition, work, language, social environment and also the organisation of accommodation. In addition, the Spanish specialists attend a further 10 to 12-month in-service language course. At the same time, the Spanish Bachelor's degree, which all educators on this programme must have, is recognised by the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art via Helmeca. After successful recognition, the Spanish professionals are considered fully-fledged professionals and are authorised to manage a childcare facility. The Spanish specialists are employed by Helmeca during the recognition year and are "loaned" to the city of Rodgau as part of an employee leasing agreement. As soon as their qualification has been recognised, they are taken on as employees of the City of Rodgau. Eight colleagues have already started work in the city's daycare centres as specialists recognised in Germany.
